Mobile medication storage and dispensing apparatus, used by a nurse or other medical practitioner at a patient's bedside in a hospital or similar facility, are generally known. Such apparatus, often referred to as a mobile medication cart, delivers patient-specific medications at the patient's bedside, where they are administered by the nurse. These carts have been popular with hospitals and long-term care facilities for storing patient medications in individual patient compartments within the cart.
In addition, stationary medication cabinets are also known, which are typically used in hospitals for secure storage of narcotics and other drug-specific medications, typically widely used medications, in the nursing unit, outside of the pharmacy.
It is desirable to have a medication cart which is mobile, efficient, easily accessible and convenient to use, in addition to conveniently limiting access to a single unit of use present in one pre-selected compartment per dispensing operation in order to prevent errors as well as theft. A compartment can also be used to hold a single narcotic item, multiple doses of the same item, for instance, aspirin or several patient-specific medications that will be used over a given time period, such as four hours.
The problems with mobile medication carts available in the market today include a failure to limit access to one drawer or compartment per dispensing operation and a failure to satisfy narcotic storage regulation. Further, they do not have the required capacity for all of the patient's medication needs, while remaining mobile. Still further, many such known carts are not electronically controlled by medication safety software while in use at the patient's bedside.
Stationary cabinets also have problems, in addition to lack of mobility, in that many such devices do not have medication safety software, and require proprietary access software, which is often slow and problematic to retrieve narcotics and other medications.
There remains a basic need for a mobile cart, which is easy to use and maneuver and which has a significant medication storage and dispensing capability, while at the same time is light and compact, with a minimum footprint.